Combination pill container and drinking cup



May 26, 1970 P. K. BORN 3,514,008

COMBINATION PILL CONTAINER AND DRINKING CUP Filed Dec. 13, 1968 INVENTOR PMAA/PK .108

ATTOR NLZYS United States Patent 3,514,008 COMBINATION PILL CONTAINER AND DRINKING CUP Phillip K. Dem, 117 Patricia Lane, Utica, N.Y. 13501 Filed Dec. 13, 1968, Ser. No. 783,502 Int. Cl. B65d 7/24 U.S. Cl. 2208 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A combination pill container and drinking cup wherein an outer sleeve is mounted on a pill container and axially slidable from a retracted storage position to an extended position when the pill container is inverted with the sleeve serving as a drinking cup in the extended position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to containers and, more specifically, to an improved container which serves both as a pill receptacle and a drinking cup.

Frequently, the need arises to take a pill or tablet in a location where a fountain but no glass is available making it extremely diflicult for the individual to wash the pill or tablet down. The situation is further complicated in some instances where the pill, tablet or medicine must be mixed with water prior to being taken such as when seltzer tablets are being used. The above situations occur in numerous places such as in offices, public rest rooms and other locations where the need may arise to take a pill or some other form of medicine but no glass or paper cup is usually available.

Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a combination pill or tablet container and drinking cup which can be readily carried by the consumer to avoid the abovementioned difliculties.

It is a further object to provide a combined pill container and drinking cup wherein the size of the combined receptacle with the cup in the storage position is substantially the same as that of the pill container so that the unit is not too bulky to be carried.

It is a further object to provide a combined pill container and drinking cup wherein the sleeve which forms the drinking cup does not extend below the bottom of the pill container when in its storage position to help keep the edge of the cup, which comes in contact with the consumer, free from undue contamination.

It is a further object of the invention to provide the combined pill container and drinking cup with a positive retaining means for holding the cup forming sleeve in the recessed position and prevent any accidental sliding of the sleeve relative to the container.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a good seal between the cup forming sleeve and the pill container when the sleeve is in the extended position to prevent any leakage of water between the sleeve and the pill container when the sleeve is in the extended position.

Briefly, the mode of carrying out the above objects and advantages of the present invention comprises a cylindrical pill contained having an annular external flange at its lower end and a pair of protrusions adjacent its upper 3,514,008 Patented May 26, 1970 end for limiting the axial movement of a cup forming sleeve mounted on the container with respect to the container. The cup forming sleeve has substantially the same inside diameter as the lower annular ring, is slidably mounted on the container and has an inwardly directed annular flange at its upper end which co-operates with the protrusions on the container to lock the sleeve in its retracted position when not in use and which co-operates with the lower annular flange when the sleeve is extended and the container is inverted to seal the cup formed by the sleeve. The annular flanges on the container and sleeve are provided with complementary tongues and grooves to insure the proper sealing of the cup which is formed when the sleeve is extended.

The above-mentioned objects and advantages will become more apparent and other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the combined receptacle with the pill container in an upright position and the cup forming sleeve in its retracted position;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view substantially along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing the cross sectional configuration of the pill container and the cup forming sleeve;

FIG. 3 is a perspective of the container with the pill container inverted and the cup forming sleeve extended to form a drinking cup;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the circled portion of FIG. 2 to better illustrate the manner in which the cup forming sleeve is locked in the retracted position on the pill container; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the circled portion of FIG. 3 showing the seal formed between the cup forming sleeve and the pill container when the sleeve is extended to form the drinking cup.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings and, in particular, to FIGS. 1 through 3 of the drawings, the preferred form of the combined pill container and drinking cup 20 is shown for the purposes of illustrating the objects, advantages and mode of carrying out the present invention. The combined pill container and drinking cup 20 can be made from various suitable materials. However, in the preferred form of the invention, the material used is a plastic material, such as polyethylene, having the desired characteristics of resiliency, flexibility, durability at normal temperatures, resistance to chemicals and good frictional characteristics.

The combined pill container and drinking cup 20 comprises a pill container 22, a cap 24 and a sleeve 26, which forms the drinking cup, that is mounted on the exterior surface of the pill container 22. It is to be understood that the embodiment illustrated in the drawings is merely intended to set forth the principles and mode of carrying out the present invention and that certain modifications and equivalents can be resorted to within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the cross-sectional configuration and shape of the various components can be modified as long as the principles and objects of the present invention as shown and described are maintained.

Referring now in particular to FIG. 2, which shows a cross-section of the combined pill container and drinking cup 20, the container 22 is a hollow, cylindrical receptacle closed at its lower end by end wall 28 and at its upper end by cap 24. The upper end of the pill container 22 is provided with an annular flange 30 on its outer surface extending around the entire periphery of the upper edge of the container for retaining cap 24 on the container.

Cap 24 is a flat circular element having an outside diameter greater than the diameter of flange 30 on container 22. The cap is provided with a downwardly directed peripheral flange 32 which is provided with a groove 34 which co-operates with and is complementary to an annular flange 30 on container 22 to normally maintain the cap in position. Groove 34 is defined by the underside of the cap 24 and an annular lip 36 extending inward from the flange 32 with the lip 36 snapping past flange 30 and engaging the underside of the flange to normally retain the cap 24 in position. A downwardly and outwardly directed peripheral lip 38 provides a means for gripping the cap to pry the cap off when it is desired to remove cap 24 from the container 22.

The container 22 is provided with two or more protrusions 40 spaced somewhat below the upper peripheral edge of the container and an external annular flange 42 adjacent the lower end of the container and extending around the entire periphery of the lower end of the container. Protrusions 40 and flange 42 co-operate with sleeve 26 and the inwardly directed annular flange 44 at the upper end of sleeve 26 as will be more fully explained hereinafter.

Protr-usions 40 each have a downwardly inclined upper surface 46, a shoulder or stop 48 on the underside and an inclined portion 50 intermediate the stop 48 and the exterior surface of the container. The inclined upper surface 46 of the protrusions 40 is to facilitate the initial assembly of the combined pill container and drinking cup. With this construction, cup forming sleeve 26, and in particular, flange 44 of sleeve 26 can be slid over the container 22 from its upper end and past protrusions 40 with the inclined surfaces 46 facilitating the gradual deformation of the protrusions and the container to permit the sleeve to pass over the protrusions 40 and into place on the container whereby the axial movement of the sleeve will henceforth be restricted by the protrusions 40 and annular flange 42 which cooperate with annular flange 44 on the sleeve 26.

As best shown in FIG. 4, the underside of protrusions 40 have a surface 48 extending substantially perpendicular to the sidewalls of container 22 to act as a positive stop when engaged by flange 44 of the sleeve 26. The inclined surface 50 intermediate the shoulder formed at 48 and the exterior sidewall of container 22 co-operates with the inner surface of flange 44, which has an internal diameter substantially the same as the external diameter of the sidewalls of container 22, to effect a gradual increase in frictional contact between the flange 44 and inclined surface 50 so that the cup forming sleeve 26 will be frictionally retained in its retracted position by the wedging action when not in use.

After the container has been inverted, sleeve 26 is slid axially relative to the pill container 22 with the internal annular flange 44 on the sleeve and the external flange 42 on the container co-operating with the external and internal surfaces of container 22 and sleeve 26 to guide the sliding movement of the sleeve relative to the container and prevent any cooking of the sleeve relative to the container. It should be noted that axially extending slots -2 can be provided on the inner surface of flange 44 to augment the passage of air into or out of the cavity formed between flanges 44 and 42 during the axial movement of the sleeve or a very slight clearance can be provided between the exterior surface of container 22 and annular flange 44 to permit the passage of air into or out of the cavity formed between the flanges 44 and 42.

As best shown in FIG. 5, the opposing surfaces 54 and 56 of flanges 42, 44 are provided with complementary tongue and groove elements 58, 60 which, along with the frictional sliding fit between the exterior surface of .the flange 42 and the interior surface of sleeve 26, seals the bottom of the drinking cup formed by the sleeve 26 and container 22 to prevent the leakage of any water or other fluid from the container when the drinking cup is in use. Of course, it is to be understood that the tongue and groove arrangement can be reversed if desired with the tongue being located on the flange 42 and the groove in flange 44. In addition, sealing means (not shown) such as a soft rubber O-ring could be retained in groove 60 to co-operate with the tongue to further insure the sealing of the drinking cup.

In use, after a pill has been removed from the container, the container is inverted and the sleeve is slid from its locked position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, to its extended position shown in FIG. 3 wherein the drinking cup is formed. The friction between the interior surface of the sleeve and the exterior surface of flange 42 retains the sleeve in the extended position, while the tongue and groove arrangement seals the drinking cup to prevent any leakage between the sleeve 26 and container 22. While not required, an inclined surface 62 similar to surface 50 on protrusions 40 can be provided on the upper side of flange 42 to co-operate with flange 44 to help frictionally retain the sleeve 26 in its extended position.

After the medicine has been taken, the sl eeve is slid back to its retracted position and locked in place by the wedging action of surface 50 against the interior surface of flange 44 on the sleeve. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sleeve is of such a length that when it is in its locked position, the lower peripheral edge 64 of the sleeve does not project beyond the bottom of container 22. This prevents any undue contamination of the portion of the sleeve which comes into contact with the consumer since with this construction, the container an be placed on a sink, table or other location without the edge coming into contact with the surface.

While a preferred form of the invention has been shown and described, it is contemplated that all suitable modifications and equivalents can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A combination container and drinking cup comprising:

a hollow container, said container having an end wall at one end and a removable end closure at the other end, and said container having external protrusions adjacent the upper end of said container and an external annular flange adjacent the lower end of said container; and

a sleeve mounted on said container, said sleeve having an internal cross-sectional configuration complementary to the external cross-sectional configuration of said container and said sleeve being axially slidable relative to said container from a retracted storage position to an extended cup-forming position whereby said sleeve co-operates with said container to form a cup, and said sleeve having an internal annular flange adjacent the upper end of said sleeve which co-operates with said external protrusions and said external annular flange to limit the axial movement of said sleeve relative to said container.

2. In the combination container and drinking cup of claim 1:

said protrusions having inclined surfaces which cooperate with said internal annular flange of said sleeve to lock said sleeve in said retracted storage position.

3. In the combination container and drinking cup of claim 2:

said internal annular flange on said sleeve and said external annular flange on said container having complementary tongue and groove elements for ef- References Cited fecting a seal between said sleeve and said container when said container is inverted and said sleeve UNITED STATES PATENTS in extended to form a drinking cup. 59 2/1902 Finley 220-8 4. In the combination container and drinking cup of r 1,365,361 6/1932 E r nhardt 220-8 X l i 1; 0 2,893,167 7/1959 Davidson.

said internal annular flange on said sleeve and said external annular flange on said container having GEORGE E-LowRANcErpflmary EXamlIler complementary tongue and groove elements for effecting a seal between said sleeve and said con- 10 tainer when said container is inverted and said sleeve 20642; 215-6 is extended to form a drinking cup.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 

